A Furry Situation
by Just Like Riding A Bike
Summary: Loki has been busy stalkin..I mean doing reconnaissance on the Avengers in kitty form when that certain time hits and a tom cat finds him simply irresistible. Now stuck as a feline with a litter of kittens on the way there seems to be a nice handy tower to hide out in. There could be worse roommates he supposed. Mpreg, cute kittens, mama Loki, undecided pairings, and lots of humor.
1. The Lion Song

**A Furry Situation**

 **Just Like Riding A Bike**

Summary: Loki has been busy stalkin..I mean doing reconnaissance on the Avengers in kitty form when that certain time hits and a tom cat finds him simply irresistible. Now stuck in feline form with a litter of kittens on the way there seems to be a nice handy tower to hide out in. There could be worse roommates he supposed.

A/N This is a reposted, edited, and continuation of an old fill I did on the Norsekink meme over on livejournal. I am the same author, though I don't really know how I can prove that. I wrote this and Dance of the Firebirds, which I may or may not decide to work on here; I seriously do not know. I was thinking of doing a Loki/Bruce pairing and you will see why as the story progresses, let me know what you think please?

-Timeline, well, to be honest, I don't know. This is a bit of a mash-up of comics, movies, and a sprinkle of actual mythos because Norse myths are cool. This is set after Thor, and before most of the others have personally met Loki but they have heard many stories, and they were able to 're-calibrate' Hawkeye in the initial heist. However Fury has been able to talk sense into the council and they have allowed him to start the Avengers program to preempt whatever war is trying to break out.

Que Loki trying to figure out what the enemy was up to.

 **Chapter One**

 **The Lion Song**

This could NOT be happening. I mean really. He was Loki, God of Mischief, Lies, and Chaos; one such as him simply did not get stuck in the body of a cat.

A female cat.

That he could have dealt with, even if he gave poor Fenrir quite the fright when his mother showed up looking much like his favorite chew toy. It was a very good thing no matter which shape he happened to take his scent remained the same, and his son was a very intelligent if overlarge wolf. He made it a point to visit his children regularly and if he missed the appointment he doubted his son's guardian would retain the rest of his limbs in Fenrir's attempts to come to his aide.

It was the indignity of turning into such a creature with the intent of spying on Thor and his Midgardian cohorts and now being unable to return since a rascal of a tom decided his sleek black form was utterly irresistible that made him so irritable.

In his defense he was in heat, and it wasn't like the tom was unattractive... for a cat.

A little tidbit of information he kept to himself about his shape-shifting, not only was his gender fluid, so was his species. To keep his mind from shutting down over the sudden wrongness of having four paws, or sprouting wings, his brain took on shades of instinct and personality from the animal he was imitating at the time.

So succumbing to the tom's advances under the circumstances was in no way his fault. Really, it wasn't.

Of course at the same moment he was yet again valiantly trying to convince himself of that fact, inside him there was a kitten pouncing on his bladder.

"Man of Iron, when did you acquire a feline companion?" The very last voice Loki wanted to hear right now boomed into his sensitive ears, making him fold the silky flaps against his skull.

Tony Stark put his drink down on the bar with a confused expression "Ah Thor, what the Hell are you talking about? I don't have a cat."

Loki saw his brother lean over to the corner he had appropriated for himself, having snuck in a few weeks back. He hadn't expected to stay hidden so long honestly, but Iron Man had gotten himself caught up in a project of his, and Loki stayed out of sight. He just needed a safe place to hang out until the kittens came and he could shift back. The Avengers were the mighty heroes, they weren't about to kick out a stray pregnant cat, green eyes or not, Loki was male. Midgardians could get so picky about little details like gender. "There is a particularly well fed specimen laying right over here, behind this table."

Well that got Tony's attention, and he wandered over to see who he had been unknowingly rooming with, "I have never seen her before." He admitted.

Thor's blue eyes narrowed, "Really?" That made him take a closer look at the cat in question, suspicion growing in his mind. Putting a hand out to pet the cat in question, Loki did the only thing that came to mind, he hissed sharply and batted Thor's hand away with all claws unsheathed, leaving red streaks down the Asgardian's hand.

"I guess she doesn't like you," Tony was trying to keep himself from laughing, but wasn't doing a very good job.

Thor ignored the blood, and nodded his head, like he was expecting the reaction, "This is not a cat."

"Looks like a cat to me," Tony disagreed.

Thor ignored him, "It's good to see you again Loki, and it looks as though I am to be an Uncle again. This is most wondrous news my brother."

"...Loki? Brother? But that's a cat! A girl cat, and it's your brother? Oh screw this I need a drink." And with that Tony Stark refused to take in any more of the strange sight in front of him, turning back to his abandoned drink.

xxxx

Loki sat on the glass table surrounded by Avengers with his tail thrashing, feeling incredibly violated by all this nonsense, couldn't a God of Mischief have a litter of kittens in peace?

...Apparently not, the only one not looking at him like a lab experiment was Thor. That was just odd, normally he had that idiot so wrapped up in riddles it took him a week to figure out he had been insulted.

"So Thor, this cat is your brother?" Hawkeye, or Agent Clint Barton depending on how he was feeling that day, was the first to speak.

The Thunder God nodded happily, "Yes this is definitely Loki, he has finally returned to my side. I will cherish this day! Mother has missed him, and his children grow ever more violent without his visits to calm them."

Steve Rogers, or Captain America as the rest of the world knew the recently awakened super solider, was next. "I don't mean to doubt your word, but Thor, that is clearly a female cat. We once had a stray at our apartment complex that showed up looking like that, soon enough she had a litter of kittens hidden in an old box."

"Oh yes, I believe he might have miscalculated which body to use at this time. He has made me an Uncle on previous occasions,and this is by far not the oddest pairing he has stumbled upon. At least this time we will not need to slaughter the equivalent of two of your finest Midgardian steers daily to feed a single one of this brood." Thor confided. "Fenrir was such a playful little pup, but he grows restless without regular visits from Loki. I daresay he may start nipping at the hand that feeds him should this foray on Midgard last too much longer for his mother. At least his others are old enough now they do not require so much personal attention, but they do miss him."

Okay Tony couldn't hold it in anymore, he burst out laughing, "Wait, Loki, smooth super villain Loki, made a mistake? One that allowed him to get knocked up by a cat?" Thor didn't answer him, Loki did, with an indignant hiss. Just because he couldn't speak the Alltongue in this form, didn't mean he couldn't understand it.

"My brother has always been a gifted sorcerer, and his body is so fluid when he shifts things such as gender mean little to him. Fertility is something he normally has control over, but apparently some species have stronger mating instincts than he was expecting." Oh great now even Thor was laughing at him.

Black Widow, the sensible one of the bunch, "So what do we do now? Do we treat him like Loki the villain he was? Or more like we would a cat off the street we found like this? Thor, what's your brother like when he's this heavy pregnant?" That sentence was one she never thought she would have to say when she signed on for this job.

"If my brother could use his magic to cause trouble during a pregnancy, don't you think he would have already?" Thor rationalized. "He is still Loki, and he is perfectly capable of understanding every word we are saying, but his magic is tied up in sustaining the form and the children. He is for all intents and purposes a cat until the kittens are born."

"What about after?" Natasha grilled, not letting Thor get away with leaving that part out.

Thor let out a sigh, "I don't know, but my brother would never let harm come to a child of his blood, intentionally gotten or not. He will not initiate a battle with them still in residence."

Director Fury and Agent Coulson were the next to find out about the new resident of Avengers tower. Tracking down the kittyfied Loki was not an easy task with the sheer size of the place, but they eventually found him lurking on Bruce Banner's floor.

Loki knew he would be kept the furthest from general irritants there, no one annoyed the Hulk if they could help it. Well, except Iron Man, but Loki had gotten used to him while hiding on his floor before the discovery of his presence. There was also the added bonus of Thor not really enjoying the company of the somewhat small mortal, when the genius did Hulk out, he had a bit of an issue with the Asgardian Thunder god. Thor kept his distance as the large green superhero was one of the few beings on Midgard that could hurt him, and did.

When the high ranking SHIELD agents did find Loki, they were momentarily silent. For once the slightly crazed, babbling, more-than-half drunk, report from Tony had been true. "Kittens? Of all things, the most wanted villain in recent times turns themselves in because they up and decide to have some kittens?" Fury was the one to speak, voice neither grave nor shocked; it sounded more like the voice of a man who had been waiting for the other shoe to drop. The funny thing was, this wasn't even the craziest thing he could think of, that was probably the most disturbing thing about the situation in Fury's mind.

Loki gave the director a haughty look and went back to grooming his shiny black coat. It was pure black, long, but not overly fluffy, and smooth as silk. He did like his fur in this form, it was one of the nicer perks of the feline species.

"I think we were just given the cold shoulder by a cat," Coulson realized.

"Well cold shoulder or not, you will listen to this Loki of Asgard. Thor has spoken on your behalf, and we have allowed some of the things he has asked for, as long as you stick to the terms as well. You will be allowed asylum here at the tower until this pregnancy is over. After you will either be remanded into Thor's custody and be taken back to Asgard, or you can chose to remain under SHIELD control. Either way the kittens stay with you, but you will not step foot back on the streets a free man, is that understood?" Fury knew Loki could understand him, Thor assured him of that.

Loki dropped all pretenses and glared. Slipping away once he could shift freely and had access to his magic again would be simple enough if it was just him. Thor knew him too well, he wouldn't leave his litter behind, but taking them with him while they were young and vulnerable would be too dangerous to risk. Best to at least play along for a little while, an opportunity might present itself. He slowly nodded his head, hackles raised.

"Good kitty," Fury responded, not surprised when Loki was nearly spitting in rage at him. "Oh and I know what you're thinking. The Loki I know would never give in without a fight. Don't do anything stupid. You might even like it here. You see I do my homework, I read up on Loki the God, just as I did on Thor. Midgard is not Asgard true, but for you, I have a suspicion that may not be a bad thing."

As Fury spoke, Coulson watched, and Loki's ears perked up at the Directors words. A nerve had been struck. They concentrated so much on the showy older brother, it was kind of easy to overlook the shadowy younger one. Thor made a lot of attempts to approach Loki, and return to the bonds of brotherhood they used to have, but it wasn't entirely lost on the Agent that Loki was holed up with the one Avenger that Thor tended to avoid.

"Just think about it, you're better at that than Thor," Fury requested, before both him and Coulson left Loki alone with his thoughts.

Though alone might not be the best word, the kittens were pouncing again.


	2. Hello

**A Furry Situation**

 **Just Like Riding A Bike**

A/N This is the last full chapter of prewritten material so thought I'd get it posted.

 **Chapter Two**

 **Hello**

Bruce Banner did not know he had a guest on his floor for some time. Why? Well for one he could get nearly as distracted as Tony, and two he didn't have as much of a problem with Loki as the others did so he didn't keep as sharp an eye out for him.

Oh he would be one of the first to hunt the evil villain down should he hurt someone, but that was the thing, he was pretty sure Loki wasn't so much evil villain as overpowered kid throwing a tantrum.

Bruce was a bit of an oddity when it came to the Avengers, he was Bruce Banner, timid, genius, small build; but get him angry and you got the Hulk, huge, green, full of power, with little intelligence with which to use that power. He was one of the few who not only heard Thor's stories about Loki, he actually listened to them.

He liked the stories of the young mischief making god, the pranks that while a touch cruel, were usually done in the vein of teaching some kind of lesson. Thor even admitting the final one that sent him into banishment might have started out as a way of helping him grow up. He could even understand the exact point in Thor's stories where Loki stopped being the mischief maker and started being the villain, and as the member of the team with the most understanding of anger, Bruce could honestly say he felt an unsettling kinship with Loki.

Now though when he was walking out of his lab into the more comfortable (for the normal members of humanity if you aren't Bruce or Tony) portions of his quarters in search of a shower and maybe a cup of coffee, he found a black cat curled up on his couch. Not near it, or under it, on it. "Now what would you do if I were allergic to cats?"

A twitch of an ear and a languid stretch.

"That's what I thought, might be a cat, still Loki," Bruce commented, finishing the journey to his coffee maker, pouring himself a mug. Decaff of course, but he could fool himself into thinking he was just like Tony a couple of floors away drinking gallons of the real stuff. "Luckily enough I'm not allergic to much of anything anymore." Could an emotion be considered an allergy?

He wasn't sure what made him do it, a mix of curiosity, loneliness, and boredom probably. It was his living room and couch Loki had taken over after all, Bruce took his mug over and sat down next to the feline, causing the cat to immediately curl up in a ball. He didn't run though, even with the Hulk not a foot away from him. "I'm not going to hurt you." Bruce affirmed. "No point, you are a ward of SHIELD right now, until you get loose or cause trouble, you won't be harmed. Some of us might try to get around those orders, I wouldn't get too friendly with Hawkeye right away, but I won't do anything to you unless you give me a reason." The ball 'o cat uncurled a bit, Loki was listening at least.

"I don't know how the others feel, but I can not judge you, look at the destruction and chaos that follows me when the Other Guy gets out. I know you cannot speak, but someone as clever as you can probably answer, is that why you are here in plain sight? You know I am safe, where the others might not be until you are capable of defending your actions verbally?" Bruce knew if someone who didn't know the story walked in and saw him having a serious conversation with a cat, they would think he had spent too long in his lab again. Hey at least he talked to living creatures, Tony talked to robots.

Well look at that, a cat nodding, at least he was right in that Loki would answer when he wanted to. Bruce's eyes strayed to Loki's puffed out middle, "I'm not much of a vet, but I've been a doctor in some poor conditions for a long time. You don't have a lot of reasons to trust me I know, but I hope you realize if you thought something might be going wrong you would find a way to let me know. I wouldn't let them suffer, they are innocent."

This nod was a lot slower, not one of agreement, just showing he understood the offer.

xxxx

Bruce and Tony were an odd but surprisingly good pair of friends. Ever since that first meeting, and the incident with the pointy stick and Tony's almost childlike enthusiasm for new puzzles, they had been spending more time with each other. New projects and prototypes were shared and unveiled for debate and critiques from someone who might just be smart enough to understand them for once.

In other words, they were showing off. This time it wasn't about money for Tony, or anger for Bruce, just the pure adrenaline rush of new knowledge and fresh ideas, with a partner capable of keeping up.

This time they were meeting on Bruce's floor, his idea under inspection, a plan for a more efficient and cost effective method of making contaminated water safe to drink. Many of the infections and diseases he was working on treating when SHIELD picked him up were passed through dirty water. They needed a way to clean the water, that could be widely distributed to the people, and was easily stored without refrigeration or electricity.

"Tablet form is still probably the best way to store and distribute any formula we do come up with, unless it is a shelf stable liquid of some type." Tony commented, eyes tracking the complicated equations like they were bed time reading.

Bruce thought about it, "The tablets we have now do work, but there are flaws, if we can improve on them maybe we can get them to work better. I like the potential of a liquid. A few drops in a pitcher of water to neutralize contaminates. We may even be able to get the formula more concentrated in a liquid state."

Suddenly Tony broke off from the discussion, "Hey Bruce, I know you are excited about this water thing, but you don't have to play footsie with me."

"I'm not!" Bruce protested,not able to stop the reflexive protest to Iron Man's goading.

Looking down, "What the? Loki!" Tony found the cat rubbing up against his leg. At hearing his name, he looked up at both the men and meowed.

"Is something wrong?" Bruce found himself asking, before nearly kicking himself at remembering Loki couldn't answer him even if he wanted to.

Tony laughed, "Yeah, is Timmy in the well?"

Loki glared at Tony, before looking back at Bruce, and turning to deliberately nudge his stomach. "Oh, okay, something to do with the kittens." Bruce realized, voice softening. Even Tony's posture started looking more serious as Bruce knelt down and carefully picked up Loki, somewhat surprised the Asgardian turned cat allowed the Hulk to handle him. "Tony, can you grab a couple blankets from the living room and meet me in the exam room?" He asked, needing to check Loki over, but wanting him to be comfortable too.

Loki was laying complacently in his arms, not fighting the hold on him. Bruce's floor was home to a mini-medical wing devoted exclusively to the Avengers. Bruce kept track of each member of the team, many of them had specialized bodies that didn't work like a typical humans, and he cared for them himself. Now he was grateful for the privacy as Tony spread out the blankets as a cushion and he gently set Loki down.

Tony watched Bruce work as he calmed Loki and ran soft hands over the feline. At first he almost left them to it, but before he went two steps, his inner good guy was biting at him, and he was back. Now he was here watching Bruce, and damn if he wasn't petting Loki. It was just stroking his head and ears, but the cat seemed to be enjoying it.

"Loki, are you in labor?" Bruce inquired after a few minutes.

Tony felt the ears twitch under his hand, and they both saw him nod slowly.

Bruce stroked his hand soothingly along Loki's back, "Do you need help, is that why you came to us?"

This time a shake of the head.

"I think I know why, you just didn't want to be alone did you?" Tony observed.

This response took a lot longer, and it was a nod, proving sometimes the Iron Man did know what he was talking about. Which was how him and Bruce became friends in the first place actually.

xxx

Loki really didn't quite know what made him do it. All he did know was when he realized what was happening the thought of spending another moment by himself was unbearable. The mortal, the doctor with the soft voice and haunted eyes, he sought him out. Only, when he did find the man, he wasn't alone.

He spied on the pair for a bit, to determine how safe it would be to approach, but time was not on his side and mother nature was getting in the way. He would need to make a choice soon, or risk not having enough time to find himself a good place to deliver.

So of course when he finally did decide maybe the midgardians deserved a chance, what did the Man of Iron do? Make a joke of his situation. The specifics were lost on him, but he had no doubt there was a jest in the words.

The comfort he found from Bruce Banner almost made up for the indignity, almost.

The petting during the simple exam had nothing to do with Loki's forgiveness either, though if Starrk would just get a little more to the left, ah yes, right there.

Then came the question, "Loki, are you in labor?" And everything became real as he nodded, especially as Tony figured out he hadn't needed help, he just didn't want to be alone anymore.

"Well, we aren't going to kick you out," Bruce told him, and for some reason the simple humor in the statement had Loki relaxing.

"Still getting used to the whole male god, girl cat thing," Tony muttered. Loki nipped his hand, which considering the amount of blood he had drawn from Thor not too long ago, Tony considered that a warning. "Okay, okay, touchy subject."

Loki just shook his head incredulously, it would be so much nicer when he could talk again. These two might just be fun to play with.

"Aren't you supposed to be riddled with pain or something?" Tony responded, Bruce carefully not mentioning he was arguing with a cat.

How in the heck was Loki supposed to say it did hurt, but it wasn't like he hadn't been through this before, and he'd had worse?

Bruce had to hold back a laugh, "Did he just try to shrug?"

"I think so," Tony agreed.

Loki set his head down on the blanket Tony had brought on Bruce's order, and couldn't help but think maybe this wasn't such a bad idea. When the hand was back petting his ears, and another stroking his back, well, the qualifiers may have left his sentence, but he wasn't about to let them know about it.

"Here Loki, you should try to drink something," Bruce had a small dish of water for him, and was helping him reach it easier.

Both men could tell Loki was getting closer to the end, his breathing had changed, and he had laid his body out to better accommodate the kittens exit.

"This is kind of cool, death I have seen a lot of, first time I've been around to see a birth; animal or otherwise." Tony admitted. Hey he was a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist; nowhere on that list was midwife located.

Bruce was setting the empty water dish out of the way, "I have attended a few before," This was said for both Loki and Tony's benefit. "I much prefer this side of the life cycle."

They were distracted as Loki bumped his head into Tony's hand, he had gotten used to having to give physical ques to get their attention, another bump to make sure he had achieved his goal and he gave a mewl of warning before burying his nose into his fur covered side. Every muscle in the feline's body pulled tight with the strain of what was undeniably a push.

Loki felt his first kitten come, an explosion of pain and effort resulting in a wet, warm, tiny, wriggling, perfect little creature. A female. Coal black like him. He barely had time to get her to his belly and warm milk before the next one was demanding his attention.

This one was bigger, the head harder to pass, pain more intense, but in the end the same perfection. A male, mottled and dappled with black and grey like his sire. He was louder than his sister, protesting the loss of the warm watery world he had always known. A chance at supper helped calm him down, seems like food was a universal calming agent for all children no matter the species.

A short break gave Loki, and a very cautious Bruce, a few moments to get the first two dried off a little better, before Loki's third kitten joined the world. A female, with a calico coat that lived up to Loki's title as god of chaos. The kitten was almost worryingly small though, once settled next to her brother it was hard to believe they were from the same litter at all. Loki put her the closest to him, so he could lick and fuss over her.

Bruce saw it, "We will take care of her Loki, anything we can do for her will be done, I promise." Loki knew he meant it.

As worried as he was, he couldn't drop everything though, because he wasn't finished yet. He was pushing again, hoping this one wouldn't be another small kitten. Okay it wasn't small, but it didn't feel right, what the, oh backwards. Happened with animals, he needed to calm down, just breathe and push. There it was. Another male. What was it with his sons giving him trouble? He had black fur like the oldest kitten, but his was longer then the girl's.

"Do you think that's all of them?" Tony asked, an odd note in his voice looking at the kittens. Even Bruce couldn't place it.

Loki was about to nod, he'd been guessing four all along, when he quickly had to shake his head, no he wasn't done. A fifth kitten had been hiding from him. A few more pushes and a pretty little female tabby was added to his family. Bigger than the third, but smaller than the others, she would also need some extra watching to make sure she grew properly.


	3. Take A Chance On Me

**A Furry Situation**

 **Just Like Riding A Bike**

 **A/N** This chapter is a transition between the old content from the fill I did, and the new writing. The visit with Thor was written in 2013, so there is about two and a half years between it and the rest of the chapter. I hope it goes smoothly and you understand why this is a little short. The next chapter will be more exciting, but this was necessary and there are cute moments so still worth writing. Thank you for your time.

 **Chapter Three**

 **Take A Chance On Me**

Loki was curled tightly around his five kittens, sleeping off the exhaustion from their birth, and unknowingly to him he was being observed.

They had been carefully moved from the uncomfortable lab into one of the spare rooms on Bruce's floor while he was still awake, so he wouldn't panic if he awoke in unfamiliar territory. Unfortunately once the new family was settled in Tony and Bruce were obligated to report the kittens' arrival as all the Avengers were instructed when Loki was given permission to stay at the tower.

That lead to the current situation with an observer in Loki's room, that the occupant was unaware of.

Loki was far too paranoid for that to last long -no matter how exhausted he was- and he was soon waking thankful for finally having access to his magic again quickly switching back into his true Asgardian self; albeit a bit bedraggled from the recent experience. "Get away from them!" You might have though he was still partially a cat with how much hiss there was to his words. He made sure to gather his newest children's tiny forms against his much larger body carefully, so that they would be safe should he need to move if Thor provoked him.

"Calm yourself my brother, I simply wanted to congratulate you, and see the new members of the family." Thor spoke quickly, seeing the defensive moves for what they were.

Too tired to fight him on it, and too proud to admit it, Loki had to think fast. "If I allow you to see them, you must carry the news to mother." A bargain, something to cover his tiredness that wouldn't hurt his pride, and it would be nice to let Frigga know about his youngest litter.

"I would have done so without your deals," Thor smiled blindingly at getting the opportunity to see the kittens.

Loki shifted his arm, and let Thor approach the warm ball of fuzz that was his litter clinging to each other for comfort. "You've always borne striking children, and these are no different." Thor complimented, and for a moment Loki allowed himself to feel the warmth of it. "This little one, I bet she will prove to be a true daughter of chaos." The tiny calico caught Thor's attention both for her size and her riotous coloring.

"She will need watching." Loki agreed, and if it were anyone else they would have thought he meant the statement, but this was his brother.

Thor looked at the kitten again, "When we were boys, it was difficult to get you to come to the training yard with the rest of us. The others picked on you for being a good bit smaller then the rest of us, and for most of our youth it proved disastrous for you. Until that is, you found your own way, standing against us using your slender build, honing agility over strength to win pride of place in many sparring matches. You've bested me when your head isn't so full of shadows and darkness. She is small now and will need your care, but she will grow to find her own kind of strength just as you did."

Loki Silvertongue was struck speechless, and Thor added to his inability to think by not jumping on the opportunity to tease him.

"I will tell Mother and Father about your litter, and when you've named them, I will pass those along as well." Thor restated, leaving Loki to his thoughts and kittens.

The main thing running through Loki's head at that moment, what the heck happened to his moron of a brother?

The shock from Thor's visit made his sleep uneasy, but he was far too tired to remain awake; and next he was aware it was hours later and the soft spoken Dr. Banner was at his door. "I thought you might like to come eat dinner with us? Thor told us you can tun back now. You don't have to if you don't feel like it, I can just bring you something in here if you'd like that better?" He offered a bit hesitantly, not sure where he stood with the God now that Loki had his power back but no formal arrangements had been made with SHIELD about the future.

The offer had Loki actually considering it, the debate clear on his once again feline features. He would remain in the same form as his litter for as much time as they needed him; it wasn't like he had a dislike of the species so he didn't particularly mind the situation too much now that it was once again his choice to remain as such. The encouraging look on the patiently waiting mortal's face was the final bit of compulsion he needed to persuade him into smoothly switching forms to his true self for the first time in the presence of someone who was not his brother. "I think I will accept your offer Dr. Banner." He responded, typically smooth voice a touch bumpier than he would have liked from the lack of speaking for the last several weeks.

Bruce looked surprisingly relieved at Loki's response, "I was hoping you would say that, I wanted the others to meet you before Fury got mixed up in this, and it's just Bruce by the way."

Loki couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in reflexive shock, "You speak like you trust me?" It was a leading question, both cutting and vulnerable if you knew how to listen.

And that was something Bruce Banner was very good at.

His eyes strayed to Loki's side where the little pile of kittens were tucked against him expertly, this was not the first time the God of Chaos had borne children that were non-human shaped; he knew how to nurture them so he could shift safely between forms without waking them.

The sight of them made the haunted man smile softly, "You trusted me with something far more precious. They are not just cats, they are _yours,_ every bit your children. I know that, without you having to tell me, or you wouldn't have gone through the hassle of protecting them this long. I explained it, and the others agreed you deserved a chance. Thor just so happens to be away and Fury won't be here until later tonight. This is your chance Loki, to really understand what Fury offered you. Let us show you who we are, and give us the time to know you; this time you get a real choice, no lies, no gimmicks, and no politics. A true choice. That sound good?"

Loki felt the corners of his mouth turning up as he listened, voice taking on a teasing lilt, "And here I thought I could take my supper here, what happened to that option?"

Bruce had the grace to blush, "I didn't want to make you feel obligated, and while I know Thor came in earlier I don't know what he said. If you were angry or upset I didn't want to make you more uncomfortable, or force you out went you preferred time alone. The idea is to make you feel welcome here, not like a prisoner or a soldier that must jump to every order."

"That is what your SHIELD wants, is it not?" Loki inquired sharply, hackles raising slightly, though there was still a hint of humor in his voice. He wasn't yet willing to take any frustration out on the clever Midgardian that had been steadily helping him. He was irritated with the situation, not the mortal, and due to long years of practice on Asgard he could hold his frustration in check until something truly drastic happened; well, usually.

"I'm not actually sure," Bruce admitted slowly, "SHIELD has a lot of agents, at many levels, but none of them hold a candle to the damage you and Thor can do. I wouldn't be surprised if they used you more like Tony and I, we develop the equipment the other guys use. Sure we go on missions when they need us, but for the Avengers, field work is paired down to Earth ending stuff. Something about us being too valuable to loose in a skirmish when they need us for the war." That was truly difficult for him to confess to. He hated being anything more than the gentle scientist and doctor he'd worked hard to become. That the Hulk was part of his life was an accident he would give anything to erase. Anything that made him sound like a hero only made him queasy because, in his head, he was the villain.

Loki considered his words for several long moments before making a response, "That... truly doesn't sound too bad. I would not mind being in such a role, though in the interest of keeping goodwill I should warn Thor would not like being held in reserve. He is used to being on the front lines, down wrestling in the dirt with friends, or vying with some foe. Without that outlet to release his tensions he will get restless, and a bored Thor is asking for trouble."

Bruce nodded. "That is something for Fury to hear, unfortunately I don't even know what he has planned for me most of the time. I do trust that he is going about things the best way he knows how, or I wouldn't be here at all no matter how many speeches he gave, but for now let's just go get some food and worry about the big questions later." At seeing the God's eyes narrow in suspicion, Bruce was quick to add. "I'm sorry Loki, I really am. If I could give you answers I would. I am not trying to give you the runaround. I just plain don't know what he wants to do, and the longer we stand here debating it, the less time we have to meet the others without interference. I honestly think you'll like them."

Loki relaxed as he realized the mortal was not lying to him. "Give me a moment." He finally settled on responding with, before turning his attention back to his litter.

There was absolutely no way they were going to be away from him for any length of time when they were less than a day old; in short, they were coming with him. A wave of his hand and a thought produced a plushly lined basket large enough to accommodate the five kittens and his own shifted form should he wish to join them at any point. Another thought and the lining radiated a soft heat and soft coverings would hide them from direct view.

Bruce watched with a soft smile as one by one, Loki lifted each kitten, stroking along their backs, and inspecting them closely to make sure they were whole and healthy. He'd done so many times since their birth in his other form; however, he was taking the opportunity of the new vantage point to check again. Once he was as satisfied as he was going to be this time around, he raised them up to kiss their tiny heads and laid them gently in the basket until all five were curled together once more.

Loki did not bother turning back to Bruce until he was finished caring for is children, and there was no fault in that, "So shall we go greet these companions of yours?"

The smiled grew wider, "Yes, like I said, I think you will like them."


End file.
